Located Within is a function, in Google Maps, to indicate that a business (e.g. a restaurant, of a store) in located INSIDE another business (e.g. a Mall)
The function is extremely useful if we are looking for a place and we don’t know the aspect of the place, and how to find it.
Why this post?
I have two reasons for writing here
- Because, although the function is extremely useful, and has been available on Google Maps since September 2018 (identified on localsearchforum dot com), you cannot find any mention of it in the Google Maps Help(for this reason I am tagging @DeniGu , to escalate the situation to the team)
- Because, not knowing about the function, several Local Guides upload one or more photos of the “container” Business in all the POIs that are “Located in” that business. The intention to help (because I am sure this is the intention, and NOT to gain a lot of points with a single photo) can cause a lot of confusion. Try for a second to imagine that you are looking for a place, and all the POIs in the mall have the same cover photo.
In addition this is a serious violation of the Community policy "Dark, blurry, and redundant photos will be removed. Users who duplicate photos across locations, or post images that infringe on copyrights, will also be removed".
Yes, you read it correctly: Users who duplicate photos across locations … will also be removed.
Why risk your account when there is a feature that can add the same information in a better way
I want to give you a practical example:
SPAZIO CONAD, my preferred supermarket, is Located in Centro Commerciale Tiziano. Clicking on the “Located in” link in the POI, you will be automatically moved to the POI of the Mall, as shown in the image here below
This seems to be easy to find, isn’t it?
Now let’s imagine that you are looking for a lawyer, consultant or doctor, and that their office is located inside a building in the center of the city, and that the only indication is a plaque on the door. Many other activities will probably be present in the same building, which means that most likely the building itself will be a POI, which manages the parts common to all businesses.
Linking all the POIs to the main one is easy and fast, will give you exactly the same FIVE points of a photo.
You only need to:
- Locate and click on the POI you want to edit
- Tap (or click) on “Suggest an edit”
- Select “Change name or other details”
- Scroll down to find “Located within”
- Tap on “Search for place or business”
Start to digit the name of the “main” place, then select the POI
That’s all, it is an easy operation that avoids a lot of dangerous and useless workarounds.
Tell us your story of Matryoshka businesses !!
- Have you already tried to move a Business “Inside another Business”?
- Have you sometimes uploaded a photo multiple times because you were unaware of this feature? Well, this is time to go back to the business listing and to fix it
If you have any doubt, please reply in this post, and we will try to help you.
Want to get some tips on different features or local Guide rules?
Let us know by replying in this post and if necessary we will prepare a specific post
TIPS FROM THE COMMUNITY:
It’s great how the community wants to share their experience and give their great advice. Here below the “Tips from the Community”
- @SP31 : “A great example of this in the States is how some gas stations contain a fast food option, such as Subway or McDonalds, but they are located within the gas station rather than adjacent.” LINK HERE
- @Amiran says: "Also from some months ago by adding the “Directory” tab for the containers, this section is even more attractive.
One other thing I should add is that the best practice is to add the container which is one level upper than the POI. For example, when a kiosk is inside a food court inside a mall, for the “located in” section of the kiosk we add the food court, and for the “located in” section of the food court, we add the mall. So the result will be Kiosk < Food Court < Mall. This helps the map to be more organized." LINK HERE
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From @PaulPavlinovich : “if you are adding a new place that if you mark it as inside something else it is instantly "not applied". I have found that the experience is better if you add it then after its approved, visit the link from the email before it hits the public view and change it to be inside the other place.” LINK HERE
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From @VlLo : "POI descriptors… Should not be there in a name… Many POIs end up with names “McDonald’s Split Joker Mall”
It is business McDonald’s, Located within Mall named Joker which is situated in Split"
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Thanks a ton for sharing this with us.
